This paper describes the design of a photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell using carbon-doped titanium dioxide
(TiO2
-
x
C
x
) nanotube arrays as the photoanode and platinum, Pt nanoparticles incorporated in TiO2 (titania)
nanotube arrays, as the cathode. The PEC cell is found to be highly efficient (i.e., gives good photocurrent
at a low external bias, j
p = 2.5−2.8 mA/cm2 at −0.4 VAg/AgCl), inexpensive (only 0.4 wt % Pt on TiO2),
and robust (continuously run for 80 h without affecting the photocurrent) for hydrogen generation by water
splitting under the illumination of simulated one sun intensity. The synthesis of the photoanode is carried
out by the sonoelectrochemical anodization technique using aqueous ethylene glycol and ammonium
fluoride solution. This anodization process gives self-organized hexagonally ordered TiO2 nanotube arrays
with a wide range of nanotube structure, which possess good uniformity and conformability. As-synthesized
titania nanotubes are annealed under reducing atmosphere (H2), which converts the amorphous nanotube
arrays to photoactive anatase phase as well as it helps in doping of the carbon (from the reduction of ethylene
glycol) to give the TiO2-
x
C
x
type photoanode. The cathode material is prepared by synthesizing Pt nanoparticles
(by reduction of a Pt salt to Pt(0)) into the titania nanotubular arrays by the incipient wetness method. Various
characterization techniques, viz., field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy,
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction, and
glancing angle X-ray diffraction, etc., are used to study the morphology, phase, band gap, and doping of the
nanotubes.
The energy density of current lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) based on layered LiMO2 cathodes (M = Ni, Mn, Co: NMC; M = Ni, Co, Al: NCA) needs to be improved significantly in order to compete with internal combustion engines and allow for widespread implementation of electric vehicles (EVs). In this report, we show that atomic layer deposition (ALD) of titania (TiO2) and alumina (Al2O3) on Ni-rich FCG NMC and NCA active material particles could substantially improve LIB performance and allow for increased upper cutoff voltage (UCV) during charging, which delivers significantly increased specific energy utilization. Our results show that Al2O3 coating improved the NMC cycling performance by 40% and the NCA cycling performance by 34% at 1 C/−1 C with respectively 4.35 V and 4.4 V UCV in 2 Ah pouch cells. High resolution TEM/SAED structural characterization revealed that Al2O3 coatings prevented surface-initiated layered-to-spinel phase transitions in coated materials which were prevalent in uncoated materials. EIS confirmed that Al2O3-coated materials had significantly lower increase in the charge transfer component of impedance during cycling. The ability to mitigate degradation mechanisms for Ni-rich NMC and NCA illustrated in this report provides insight into a method to enable the performance of high-voltage LIBs.
Vivek Maize Hybrid 9-a popular single-cross hybrid developed by crossing CM 212 and CM 145 was released for commercial cultivation in India. The parental lines, being deficient in lysine and tryptophan, were selected for introgression of opaque-2 allele using CML 180 and CML 170 as donor lines through marker-assisted backcross breeding. The opaque-2 homozygous recessive genotypes with >90% recovery of the recurrent parent genome were selected in BC 2 F 2, and the seeds with <25% opaqueness in BC 2 F 3 were forwarded for seed multiplication.Vivek Quality Protein Maize (QPM) 9, the improved QPM hybrid, showed 41% increase in tryptophan and 30% increase in lysine over the original hybrid. The grain yield of the improved hybrid was on par with the original hybrid. The newly improved QPM maize hybrid released in 2008 will help in reducing the protein malnutrition because its biological value is superior over the normal maize hybrids. This short duration QPM maize hybrid has been adopted in several hill states of North Western and North Eastern Himalayan regions.
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